different between mitigate vs negotiate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin m?tig?tus, from m?tig?, from m?tis (“gentle, mild, ripe”) + ag? (“do, make”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh?i- (“mild, soft”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?t.?.?e?t/

Verb

mitigate (third-person singular simple present mitigates, present participle mitigating, simple past and past participle mitigated)

1. (transitive) To reduce, lessen, or decrease; to make less severe or easier to bear.
   • 1795 – George Washington, Seventh State of the Union Address

     Measures are pursuing to prevent or mitigate the usual consequences of such outrages, and with the hope of their succeeding at least to avert general hostility.

   • 1813 – James Madison, Fifth State of the Union Address

     But in yielding to it the retaliation has been mitigated as much as possible, both in its extent and in its character...

   • 1896 – Walter Hadwen, The Case Against Vaccination

     Then they tell us that vaccination will mitigate the disease that it will make it milder.

   • 1901 – H. G. Wells, The First Men in the Moon, ch 7

     Then I discovered the brilliance of the landscape around was mitigated by blue spectacles.

   • 1920 – H. P. Lovecraft, The Cats of Ulthar

     The plague had not been kind to him, yet had left him this small furry thing to mitigate his sorrow; and when one is very young, one can find great relief in the lively antics of a black kitten.

2. (transitive) To downplay.

Usage notes

Particularly used as mitigate a problem or flaw. Contrast with ameliorate (“make better”).

This word is often misused to mean “operate” or “influence”. For this meaning, the correct word is militate, followed by “against” or “in favour of”. Mitigate is never followed by these expressions.

Synonyms

• (to reduce or lessen): alleviate, check, diminish, ease, lighten, mollify, pacify, palliate

Antonyms

• (to reduce or lessen): aggrandize, aggravate, exacerbate, incite, increase, intensify, irritate, worsen

Coordinate terms

• ameliorate

Related terms

• mitigable
• mitigant
• mitigated
• mitigating
• mitigation
• mitigatory

Translations

References

Italian

Verb

mitigate

1. second-person plural present indicative of mitigare
2. second-person plural imperative of mitigare
3. feminine plural of mitigato

Latin

Participle

m?tig?te

1. vocative masculine singular of m?tig?tus

English

Alternative forms

• negociate (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin negotiatus, past participle of negotiari (“to carry on business”), from negotium (“business”) (Eng. usg. 1599), from nec (“not”) + otium (“leisure, ease, inactivity”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /n?????.?i.e?t/, /n???o?.?i.e?t/, /n?????.si.e?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /n???o?.?i.e?t/, /n???o?.?i.e?t/

Verb

negotiate (third-person singular simple present negotiates, present participle negotiating, simple past and past participle negotiated)

1. (intransitive) To confer with others in order to come to terms or reach an agreement.
   • 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., to the eight fellow clergymen who opposed the civil rights action, "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Why We Can't Wait

     "You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue."

2. (transitive) To arrange or settle something by mutual agreement.

3. (transitive) To succeed in coping with, or getting over something.

4. (transitive) To transfer to another person with all the rights of the original holder; to pass, as a bill.
5. (obsolete) To transact business; to carry on trade.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Hammond to this entry?)

6. (obsolete) To intrigue; to scheme.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

Derived terms

Related terms

• otiose

Translations

Further reading

• negotiate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• negotiate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Latin

Participle

neg?ti?te

1. vocative masculine singular of neg?ti?tus